* MY COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING - DAY 8 *

* Countdown to Thanksgiving *

 

Wow, tomorrow is Thanksgiving! How did the fourth Thursday in November arrive so fast?!

 

 

I just love these adorable pilgrim salt & pepper shakers!

They're from the grocery store, Publix, which is in the South.

My sister, Marian, sent them to me as a little gift in 2010.

 

Both of these photos are a bit blurry.
I'll have to take new pictures,
just as soon as I dig through more boxes! J

 

I was a bit melancholy the first couple of years we didn't have all of our grown kids and grandkids over for our Thanksgiving get-together. We always had our dinner the Saturday before most actual holidays, because it just made it so much better for them. No pressure and/or guilt about trying to make it to X number of houses, and X number of dinners....but this year, I am feeling much happier about going to one of their homes tomorrow! All I'm bringing is a couple of bottles of wine!

 

 

 

One of my favorite Thanksgiving/Christmas movies:

Miracle on 34th Street...the original, in black and white.

 

 

Fred: That baseball player sure looks like a giant to me.

 

Susan: Sometimes people grow very large, but that's abnormal.

 

Fred: I'll bet your mother told you that, too.

 

 

~~~

 

 

* MY COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING - DAY 7 *

* Countdown to Thanksgiving *

 

 

THIS SAYS IT ALL, DOESN'T IT?

 

 

 

* MY COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING - DAY 6 *

* Countdown to Thanksgiving *

 

The TV show, The Waltons, began when I was a senior in high school. I immediately loved it for several reasons:

 

I like movies and programs about past eras, particularly the 1930s through the 1960s.

 

It was about family values, love, hard work, etc.

 

I loved the way it was narrated by the "real" John-Boy, Earl Hamner, Jr., and knowing that many of the stories were true or based on true events.

 

I dreamed of having a home with lots of kids, parents, and grandparents, all living under the same roof. Since my own childhood certainly wasn't like that, I wished for something similar when I got married. Ahh, the dreams of an 18-year-old girl. Maybe that kind of life was down one of the paths in my future...until that crowbar changed everything! J

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although my family isn't as large as The Waltons', I'm very happy with the way things turned out! And I have so many friends who are like family members, and that number seems to grow all the time!

 

 

 

~~~

 

 

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them,
is the true measure of our thanksgiving." - W. T. Purkis



* MY COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING - DAY 5 *

* Countdown to Thanksgiving *

 

 

Speaking of thankfulness, I was very thankful to have the day off today...and my sweet Vern allowed me to sleep realllllyyyyyy late! (after his one-quick-go-outside-come-back-in-trip at 6:00am)

 

Then I spent a mostly lazy afternoon and evening, watching some football on TV, did a couple of loads of laundry and folded towels that were still in a basket from ___ days ago! (How grateful I am to have those clothes and towels, and electricity to clean/dry them.)

 

 

I also got a few groceries (of which I'm so appreciative)... lunch type snacks to take to work, and a small pork roast, red potatoes, and frozen corn and peas. My supper will be all ready for me when I get home from work tomorrow...because it will cook in the crockpot most of the day. Yum! I can hardly wait to get back home tomorrow!  J

 

And speaking of food, combined with my countdown to Thanksgiving.....below is one of my newest sets of Salt & Pepper shakers which I purchased at a nearby Kirkland's.

 

A turkey in a roaster

Take the turkey out of the roaster,

 and voila' ...

the turkey is the Pepper

and the roaster is the Salt!

 

These are almost as small as they look. Each piece is about 2-1/2" wide. I think they're just so cute! (The least expensive items always bring me joy.)

 ~~~



Oh, I almost forgot to mention that one of my favorite "weather events" happened yesterday....snow flurries! It was so pretty coming down and obviously didn't stick since our weather has been fairly warm.

~~~

 

 

 



“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” — Cynthia Ozick



* MY COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING - DAYS 3 & 4 *

 

* Countdown to Thanksgiving *

 

 

I forgot all about yesterday's post! I'm so sorry! I worked long hours, (and have the same schedule today) so I thought I better do my post now! J



 

One of my favorite coffee mugs! Harvest Blessings on one side.......



....And a scarecrow on the other!



This is the first cloche I made. (I'd never even heard of them until I saw a post on Marty's blog http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/search?q=Marty

All of these things make me think of autumn, obviously, but especially of Thanksgiving!

Have a beautiful day today/this evening.....wherever you are!

* MY COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING - DAY 2 *

* Countdown to Thanksgiving *

 

 

 

I never spent Thanksgiving at my grandparents' home when I was a little girl. I'm sure it was because they lived hundreds of miles away from us and time just didn't allow it. I sometimes wished we could be there with them, and would go around our house singing the song in the You Tube video below:

 

 

 

And of course, my wishes also included the snow and the horse-drawn sleigh! 

 

 

 

 

"I suppose I will die never knowing what pumpkin pie tastes like when you have room for it." ~Robert Brault http://rbrault.blogspot.com/

 

(Ahh, my friend Robert Brault has written more amazing words of wit and wisdom than anyone else I know! His books can be purchased on Amazon.)



* MY COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING *



* Countdown to Thanksgiving *

 

 

 



It just occurred to me that I'd like to post something about Thanksgiving, beginning today and "hopefully" every day until the Big Day, November 26th. (I wrote "hopefully" because I am working a lot of hours right now, but I'm sure I can at least post something short and sweet if I'm totally worn out!) I'm not even sure yet what I'll write about, but I will be sharing a variety of thoughts and feelings. 

This morning I thought about one of my favorite movies: Planes, Trains & Automobiles. There are several parts that I love to watch over and over, and others I tend to skip through (thanks to DVDs, etc.) It's fun seeing the St. Louis airport and watching Steve Martin walking near it, and through it. Some of the quotes I laugh at the most aren't going to make it to this blog post, due to the "language," but they are hilarious!

Here's some I'd like to share (all three quotes are in totally different scenes) and if you've seen the movie, you'll definitely recognize them:

Neal: He says we're going the wrong way...
Del: Oh, he's drunk. How would he know where we're going?


State Trooper: What the hell are you driving here?
Del: We had a small fire last night, but we caught it in the nick of time.
State Trooper: Do you have any idea how fast you were going?
Del: Funny enough, I was just talking to my friend about that. Our speedometer has melted and as a result it's very hard to see with any degree of accuracy exactly how fast we were going.


Del: You're in a pretty lousy mood, huh?
Neal: To say the least.
Del: You ever travel by bus before?
[Neal shakes his head]
Del: Hmm. Your mood's probably not going to improve much.

~~~

* NOSTALGIC SUNDAY *

It's time again for another Nostalgic Sunday!

Those of you who've read my memoir may remember the chapter titled, "My Sister, My Mother, My Friend," which was about the death of my sister, Jo Ann in 1984, and how the death of Ray Charles in 2004 related to it.

When Jo Ann died, each of her three siblings: sister Marian, brother Mike, and I were given a few things of hers to keep. Somehow I was the one who received a large cardboard box of 33-1/3 record albums, and most of those LPs were Ray Charles records.

At that time I still had a turntable and speakers, and listened to records quite often, but hardly ever listened to any of hers. With each move Ron and I made, the box came along with us of course, and was stored in a basement or closet. As the years went by, I kept thinking I really should get a nice stereo system and play some of those LPs, to honor Jo Ann. I certainly didn't need to listen to them to think of her. No, that happened every single day.

More years went by and I even considered trying to sell some of them, but something inside me just wouldn't allow that.

Fast forward to now - November 2015. Just a couple of days ago, I noticed on a Facebook photo that one of my nephews had a cool looking stereo system and tons of LPs. Knowing his love of a widespread of music (he was in a band in Texas), I asked if he'd like to have some or all of Jo Ann's albums, as soon as I could get an inventory sent to him. Just from memory, though, I knew there were LOTS of Ray Charles albums. He is thrilled to have them, and others that I'll find when I dig through the box. I am so thrilled this all happened, and Jo Ann's records will stay in the family, and be listened to, and loved!


Postscript: I own a few Ray Charles CDs and listen to them mostly when speeding along the highway on a long trip! J



"I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great." - Ray Charles

 

 

* YIKES, IT'S NOVEMBER *

As most people my age seem to say these days.....

Time is flying by way too fast.

I can't believe it's ________ ! (fill in the month)

Why can't time drag by, the way it did when we were kids?

I certainly say all those things and more. One of my favorites is:

Poster from the 1966 movie, "Stop the World. I Want to Get off."

Alas, that's not possible, and besides, if it WAS, where would I go?? I guess I'd just float around in space, and that would be awful. That wouldn't accomplish anything! So, I've learned to stop thinking (too much) about the passing of time, and just enjoy the Here and the Now as much as I possibly can.


Below are some photos I took about a week ago along the boardwalk where Vern and I go for our strolls. I'm so happy that I did, because the leaves were at their peak! Since then, it's been rainy and windy and the leaves are falling....and I love to walk through them, making crunching noises! Yes, I'm still a kid at heart!

* If you click on each photo, you'll see a much larger view.

"Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” - -  Lauren DeStefano, Wither